Roll-adjusting mechanism for rolling mills



March 9 1926. 1,576,266

F. c. BIGGERT, JR

ROLL ADJUSTING MECHANISM FOR ROLLING MILLS Filed Oct. 22, 1925 3 Sheets-Sheet 1 INVENTOR March 9 ,-1926.

v F. c. BIGGERT, JR

ROLL ADJUSTING MECHANISM FOR ROLLING MILLS Filed 06- 22, 1925 3 Sheets-Sheet 2 INVENTOR 7W6 6 fl'73/ AM L March 9 1926. 7 1,576,266

F. c. BIGGERT, JR

ROLL ADJUSTING MECHANISM FOR ROLLING MILLS Patented Mar. 9, 1926.

' UNITED STATES PATENT. OFFICE.

FLORENCE G, BIGGEBT, (TIL, F PITTSBURGH, PENNSYLVANIA, ASSIGNOR TO UNITED EN GDTEERING AND FOUNDRY COMPANY. OF PITTSBURGH, PENNSYLVANIA, A.

CORPORATION OI PENNSYLVANIA.

ROLL-ADJU STING MEOHAN ISM FOR ROLLING MILLS.

Application filed October 22, 1925. Serial No. 64,103.

To all whom it may corwem:

Be it known that I, FLORENCE O. BIGenRT, J r., a citizen of the United States, reslding at Pittsburgh, in the county of Allegheny and State of Pennsylvania, have invented a new and useful Improvement in Roll-Adjusting Mechanism for Rolhng Mills, of which the following isa full, complete, and exact description. I This invention relates to rolling m1lls, and

nism therefor.

In the usual rolling 6 mill the rolls are supported at opposite ends in roll housings, and a screw is usually provided'in each h0using by means of which. one of the rolls may be adjusted up=and down to'vary the pass between the rolls. Adjustment of the rolls must be made with great accuracy and pre-.

cision, and at the same, time the adjustmentmust be made with considerable rapidlty.

It has been roposed to. connect the screws at each side 0 the housing by a common op-.

erating shaft so as to raise or lower opposite ends of the same roll in unison. Such an arrangement, however, is not sufficiently flexible to permit of therapid adjustment of one end of the roll with respect to the other for the correction of wear or for any other pur ose where it may be necessary or desirable to efl'ect a movement of one roll with respect to the other to-vary or establish the.

desired angular relationship of the roll axes.

A ccording to the present invention it is proposed to provide a common operating means for raising or lowering both ends of the rolls in-unison, but wherein a differential gearing is provided of such construction 40 as to be effective on the adjusting mechanisms for opposite ends of the rolls to enable such relative movement as may be necessary to be obtained quickly and accurately. The arrangement, furthermore, is one that'lends itself readily to an installation where the control for the difi'erential is remotely lo cated with respect to the differential or to the rolls. In other words, such relative adjustment may be obtained without the necessity of the roll operator actually mountingthe mill to make the adjustment. The nature and advantages of the invenvertical In the drawings, Figure 1 represents, more or less diagrammatically, a rolling mill .havin my invention applied thereto.

iigure 2 is a plan view of a mill embodying the invention.

Figure 3 is a side elevation of the upper I part of a mill equipped with my invention. more particularly to a roll adjusting mecha- Figure 4 is an enlarged detailsectional view longitudinally through the differential. Figure 5 is a transverse section in 'the plane of line V-V of Figure 4.

- Figure 6 is a diagrammatic view of a slightly modified arrangement.

' By reference to Figure 1, the general I scheme of the present invention may be understood. In this figure, which is generally schematic, A designates a rolling mill having an upper roll 2 carried in vertically movable bearing blocks 3 at each end thereof. The bearing blocks 3 are carried on adjusting screws 4 at each side of the machine. The screws 4 may be raised and lowered by operation of gear wheels 5 s'pli'ned or otherwise slidably and non-rotatably connected with the upper ends of the respective screws. The gears 5 are supported against movement. but may be rotated to raise and lower the respective screws by gearing engaging the teeth on the periphery of these wheels. Fixed nuts 5 cause the screws to raise or lower when said screws are rotated through the rotation of wheels 5.

I have shown the wheels or nuts as being provided with worm wheels engages aworm 6 on a shaft 7, while the other wheel'a5 engages a worm 8 on a shaft 9. Worms 6 and 8 are reversed with respect to each other. Interposed between shafts, 7 and 9 is the differential gear, designated generally as 10.

Shaft 9 is connected with a main driving motor 11 through reduction gearing at 12. Motor 11 is of the reversible t pe.

On the opposed ends of s afts 7 and 9' teeth. One of these 18. Shaft 18 is connected to a reversible driving motor 19 through gearing 20.

In operation, motor 11 operates shaft 9 to turn the wheel or nut 5 at one end of the roll housing and to also rotate shaft section 7 in the reverse direction, the revolving ring 15 being held against rotation by worm 1T. Inasmuch as worm 6 is reversed with respect to worm 8, the wheel 5 on the screw at the other end of the housing is turned in the same direction at the same speed as that nut which is driven directly by the worm 8 on shaft 9.

\Vhen it is desirable to raise or lower one end ofthe roll faster than the other to make a necessary adjustment, motor 19 is operated to turn frame 15 through worm 17 in a direction to accelerate or retard the speed of rotation of shaft 7 with respect to shaft 9.

In the arrangement shown in Figure 6, 25 designates roll adjusting screws, and 26 1s the main operating shaft having a driving pinion 27 at one end thereof. On one of the screws 25 is a worm wheel 28 engaging a worm 29 on the shaft 26. On the end of shaft 26 opposite pinion 27, is the differential gear 30 which drives worm 31 rotatable on shaft 26. Worm 31 meshes with a worm wheel 32 on the other screw 25. This modification merely illustrates the adaptability of the invention to different locations, according to the particular requirements of individual installations.

The advantages of the present invention arise from the provision of means by which opposite ends of the adjustable rolls may he moved simultaneously at the same or at relatively different speeds, and whereby oppositc ends of the rolls may be adjusted relatively to each other to any degree within desired limits. A further advantage of the invention resides in the provision of means which may be controlled at a remote point.

It will be understood that throughout the specification and claims the expressions between or o eratively effective between are used generically, and not as designating the actual physical location of the differential with respect to other parts of the mech anism.

It will be apparent that various changes or modifications may be made in the construction of the apparatus within the contemplation of the invention and under the scope of my broader claims.

I claim as my invention:

1. In a rolling mill having an adjustable roll and an adjusting mechanism for each end of the adjustable roll, and means including a di'deren'tial gearing for simultaneously adjusting opposite ends of the roll.

2. The combination with a rolling mill having an adjustable roll therein and having adjusting means for each end of the adjustable roll, of a common driving mechanism for each of the adjusting means, and motor actuated means for moving one of the adjusting means relatively to the other.

3. In a rolling mill havin an adjusting screw at each sidethereof f dr effecting an adjustment of one of the rolls, means forv actuating the screws in unison, and a .dif-' ferential gear through which the-actuating means operates on at least one of the adusting screws. i

4. In a rolling mill having an adjusting screw at each side thereof for effecting an adjustment of the rolls, a common operating mechanism for both screws, and a differential gearing operatively interposed between the operating mechanism and one of the screws.

5. In a rolling mill having an adjusting screw at each side thereof, a. gear wheel for effecting the operation of each, a drive shaft geared to the gear wheel for one of the screws, a differential gearing operatively effective between the drive shaft and the gear wheel for the other screw, and operating means for the difierential gearing.

6. In a rollin mill having a roll adjusting screw at each side thereof, a gear wheel for effecting the operation of each screw, a drive shaft geared to the gear wheel for one of the screws, a motor for operating said drive wheel, a differential operatively effective between the drive shaft and the gear wheel for the other screw, and a motor operatively connected with the differential.

'7. In a rolling mill having a roll adj usting screw at each side thereof, operating means for effecting the operation of each screw, a drive shaft for each operating means, a differential gearing operatively interposed between the two drive shafts,.

means for driving one of the drive shafts, and means for driving the differential.

8. In a rolling mill having a roll adjusting screw at each side thereof, a pair of drive shafts through which motion is imparted to the respective screws, 2. differential gear operatively interposed between the two drive shafts, means for driving one of the drive shafts, and operating means for the differential gear.

9. In a rolling mill having an adjusting screw at each side thereof, a pair of operating shafts geared to the respective screws, means for rotating one of the shafts, said shafts having opposed pinions thereon, a revoluble frame having pinions thereon engaging said first mentioned pinions, and a motor for revolving said frame.

10. In a rolling mill having a roll adjust-- ing screw at each side thereof, a gear wheel on each screw for effecting the operation thereof, a drive shaft for operating the gear for one screw, a second drive shaft for opnausea shafts, a reversible motor for operating said difl'erential gearing, and a driving motor connected with one of the said drive shafts.

11. The combination with a rolling mill having a roll adjusting screw at each side thereof, means for o crating one of the screws including a sha and gearing, means for operating the other screw including a reversely arranged shaft and gearing, a differential gearing through which said shafts are operated in reverse directions, means for driving the differential gearing whereby one of the shafts may be accelerated or retarded withrespect to the other,

and a driving-motor connected with'one of the shafts for driving both of the shafts.

through said differential gearing.

12; The combination with a rolling mill having an adj ustable'roll therein and having adjusting means for each end of the ad justable roll, of a common driving echanism for each of the adjusting men ri and remotely controllable means for moving one of the adjusting means relatively to the other.

13. In a rolling mill, a roll, and means in-:

cluding a differential gear for simulta-' neously or relatively adjusting opposite ends of the roll.

In testimony whereof I have hereunto set' my hand.

FLORENCE C. BIGGERT, J R. 

